Monday, 16 November 2015

IEA panel discussion on the work of Ronald Coase

The late Professor Ronald Coase made huge contributions to the development of economics over 75 years. From his paper on the theory of the firm, which was published in 1937 (and cited when he won the Nobel Prize), to his IEA book How China Became Capitalist (published when he was 101), his many insights have had a profound effect on our understanding of a number of different areas of policy. How we deal with environmental problems, land-use planning, broadcasting, telecommunications and transport privatisation are just five areas of current policy that have benefited from or could benefit from the application of Professor Coase’s ideas.

In this panel discussion we are asking our panellists to describe briefly the importance of one or more of Prof Coase’s insights and explain the relevance of his insights to government policy for the future generation.